Robbers enter McDonald’s via drive-through window

A hostage situation has ended safely after two men tried to rob a gas station and restaurant in Conroe, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities are looking for the two men who fled the Shell station and McDonald’s restaurant at Texas 242 and Interstate 45 sometime before 7:40 a.m., the Montgomery County Police Reporter said.

About 3 a.m., the sheriff’s office received a report that a robbery was occurring at the business at Texas 242 and Interstate 45, authorities said.

Officers from the Oak Ridge and Conroe police departments arrived, believing that employees were still inside the store with the suspects.

Texas 242 was closed in both directions near the scene, and the I-45 frontage road was closed at Texas 242, according to KTRK-TV.

Sheriff’s deputies who also responded learned that at least two armed suspects had come into the restaurant through the drive-through window, and one employee got out the same way while the robbers were distracted, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

After initial attempts to contact anyone inside the business were unsuccessful, a SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called to the scene, the release said. Eventually, one employee came out after hiding behind a counter.

The SWAT team went in and found two employees hiding in a back room. The suspects were gone, but it is unclear when they left.

Sheriff’s deputies and the Texas Rangers were still interviewing witnesses at 9 a.m., the release said.